


cooling it off

by black_norse



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family Feels, Gen, deke and bobo bonding moments, fitz teaches deke how to swim, silly deke making fun of grumpy fitz as usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29951184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/black_norse/pseuds/black_norse
Summary: A bonding day for Fitz and Deke after a big mission, where he teaches his grandson how to swim and more.
Relationships: Leo Fitz & Deke Shaw
Kudos: 10





	cooling it off

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a long time since I published a gen fic so enjoy!!

“Hey, hey, we’re not done yet.” Fitz called on Deke who was about to walk away and dip his feet into the pool stairway.

“What?” Deke gave him an annoyed look.

“I haven’t put sunscreen on your neck.” Fitz squishes the plastic bottle on his right hand. It took seconds for the cream to go out since the bottle already has little cream left.

“Wh- What are you talking about? Why do we even need sunscreen?” Deke clicked his tongue, like he almost wants to throw a tantrum. “I hate putting on cream.”

“Oh so, you want to burn under the sun?”

“No, no, of course not.” he shook his head. “But I hate putting some slippery cream on my body.”

“Then you can’t do anything about it. Your neck will burn red, looking like the hot wings we ate earlier. You want to look like that?”

“Uhm, no. Okay, fine, do it.” Deke turned around and let Fitz put sunscreen on his back neck. He really didn’t like the warm feeling of cream spread all over his skin, especially on a hot sunny day, no clouds in the sky, and this sunscreen doesn’t feel like it’s protecting him from the heat.

“You’ve lived more than a year in this timeline and you still don’t know how to swim?” Fitz asked.

“Until now, I’m still afraid of the ocean so, nope, I have never tried swimming, I just dip myself into the bathtub.” Deke responded. “This is the first time I’m trying a swimming pool.” he faced him again after Fitz stopped putting sunscreen on his neck. He also looked at the number of people in the pool. No kids, just adults, because it’s a school day. Some of them are floating on the dark blue portion of the pool, which he knew was the deeper part of the pool. He got a little bit anxious.

“I’ll teach you how to swim, don’t worry.” Fitz pat on his shoulder. “Also, there are no sharks here so you’re safe.”

Deke responded with a grin. He walked to the stairs of the pool, but Fitz called him again when he was about to take off his rash guard. “What?”

“What are you doing?” Fitz asked, pulling down his shirt.

“Taking off my clothes, duh.” Deke muttered. “You want my clothes to get wet? We’re swimming.”

“That’s why we wear rash guards. It’s fine to wear it because it dries off easily and the long sleeves protect your arms from the radiation.”

“Oh, too much protection.” he exhaled. “Okay, fine. It’s not too bad wearing this at the pool too.”

The two of them walked together and dipped their feet in the pool. Deke stopped moving when he experienced the coldness of the water, and shivered. “It’s burning.” he chuckled lightly. His feet shook so hard under the water he felt that he might tumble. His chuckle turned into a laugh as he continued to walk and more of his body touches the cold water. “I love it here.”

It was so satisfying. Deke forgot the warm sensation he felt when he applied the sunscreen on his skin earlier. He ended up flapping his arms and his legs on the pool, having fun playing in the water. He looked like a kid giggling in the water with colored balls when Fitz watched him. “Be careful!! Wait for me.”

“I will.” Deke waved at him. He walked further as the water rose to his neck. He started moving his legs and arms more to be able to float. He even peeked underwater, all he saw were the feet of other people, holes, and the pool floor descending to the right. He was startled for a bit when he felt a nudge on his back and was relieved to see it was Fitz. “Bobo, you scared me.”

“You scared me too, I thought you already drowned.” Fitz sighed for a relief. “Did you drink the water? Just making sure, because you do stupid things sometimes.

“What? Are you kidding? No.” Deke snickered. “I’m aware, I know this isn’t safe, I searched it on the internet, and it says it has many bacteria and is not safe for drinking. But why does it taste weird? I didn’t swallow it though.”

“It’s mixed with chlorine.” Fitz replied. “It’s used as a disinfectant to kill those bacteria you mentioned.”

“Chlorine? Ugh, I don’t like that. The Kree used chlorine gas for us to burn us as punishment.”

“This isn’t chlorine gas and we aren’t burning, so you’re safe.”

For the whole hour, Fitz taught Deke how to float and swim. It was hard at first, but Deke got used to flapping his limbs, but he felt that cramps are gonna stop him from doing it. They ended up splashing water with each other until they got tired.

“Hey, Bobo. Do you want to have a breath-holding contest with me?” Deke asked Fitz who’s now sitting on the edge of the pool.

“Nope, no, no breath holding contest.” Fitz shook his head.

“Why not? You’re afraid that I’ll win against you?” he scoffed lightly and gave him a look that may convince him but still he received a ‘no’ from him.

“When I say no, then no.” Fitz grunted.

“Okay, I’ll do it myself, then.” Deke slowly descended into the water and held on the metal bar ladder while he tried to hold his breath underwater. He made sure there are no bubbles coming out of the water so that Fitz won’t tell he’s cheating.

* * *

The beachside is just a few meters near the swimming pool, people could even see it from the pool. They spent too much time soaking on chlorinated water so they decided to walk out from there and decided to swim on the shore water. It was a high tide, and the waves could even reach the nearby tables with umbrellas.

It was Deke’s first time to step on wet white sand with a part of his feet submerging when he stands too long. He brought his polaroid camera with him, hung around his neck.

“Hey, Bobo, say cheese!!”

Fitz faced the camera with his normal grumpy face. “You’re taking pictures now? With a polaroid camera?”

“Yeah, I love going vintage sometimes.”

“Where are you gonna put those polaroid pictures? Bury it on the sand.”

“No, silly you. I’ll put it at the container attached here. This is waterproof, the films are waterproof.”

“You could’ve used a waterproof phone instead.”

“Phones are overrated.” Deke pointed the camera on himself, putting his shoulder on Fitz’ and took a selfie of them. “Maybe for at least once, you put a smile on your face.”

Fitz pulled a forced smile on his face. Being a camera-shy person surrounded by people on the beach, it’s not what he wanted to happen.

“Bobo, can we build a sandcastle later?” Deke asked upon seeing some sand buildings which captured his sight. Some have mini flags on top of them and some have mini figures standing.

“Yeah, sure after we swim.” Fitz replied.

While they walked, Deke didn’t even realize the water is already rising on the same level with his knees. It was better to step on the sand rather than the concrete floor on the pool, lucky it wasn’t rocks that he stepped on. When it was already on the same level with his chest, he decided to dip his face on the seawater so finally his face could get wet again. Of all the information and facts, he researched about beaches, he forgot the fact that seawater is salty.

“This is spicy!! It’s burning my face!!” he was more pissed to see Fitz laugh at him. “It’s not funny.” he frowned.

“You’re just like me when I was a kid. I had the same reaction when I submerged into the sea.”

“Oh.” Deke’s frown turned into a grin. “Genetics dothe thing.”

They continued walking further from the shore until the level of the water rose higher than their heads. They started floating, their eyes pointing to the sky.

“It’s easier to float on seawater because it has more density than the water in the pool.” Fitz shared.

“Yeah, I know that. Salt plus water. I learned that on the internet.” Deke said. “So, we’re floating in the Pacific Ocean, right?”

“Yep.” Fitz replied.

“Californian beaches are the best.”

Of course, the floating didn’t last long. Splashing water at each other is more fun on the sea. Deke even pretended to drown while finding sharks underwater. Fitz was so pissed when he just splashed water from his mouth when he got him out of the water.

“That’s not a good joke!!” Fitz shouted nervously. “I hate you.”

“I’m just fooling around.” Deke giggled.

“Don’t do that again. You do not know how worried I am!!” he punched his right arm.

“Oww!!” he screamed from the pain. “Okay, I am sorry I got you worried. I thought it was good to fool around and make fun.”

“Sorry I punched you so hard. It’s not a good time for jokes right now. Luckily, we’re in the middle of the sea and not many people are around us. I would really like to drown you so that you will learn a lesson, but I won’t do that. I’m a saint.”

* * *

Deke is now on his last bite of the ice cream cone he ate. He watched the sunset while sitting on the beach blanket with an umbrella beside him. He took off his rash guard as he has nothing to worry about the sun burning his body. He hung his towel on his neck to dry himself and viewed all the polaroid pictures he took with Fitz, playing on the sand, building sandcastles, floating together on the sea, and more. “Hey.” he called.

“Yeah.” Fitz looked at him.

“Thanks for joining me on this trip. I had so much fun.” Deke pulled a smile.

“Me too.” Fitz nodded. “This was a good time to cool down. Not gonna lie, you’re fun to hang out with.”

“Next time, we could climb up a mountain and invite Nana to come with us.”

“Sure, that’d be great.” he gives Deke a pat on his shoulder. “I know we weren’t in good terms lately. I was being hard on you always. I wasn’t a good friend…or a grandpa.” he snickered. “I’m sorry for that.”

“Hey, what are you talking about?” he spoke softly. “You’re neither one of those. I should be the one who should say sorry for always making fun of you. And I like you when you’re grumpy. It’s better to have a grumpy Bobo than having none. I am grateful that I got to live in the same time period when my grandparents are alive.”

Fitz felt a bit of a warm upon hearing what he said. “And I am also grateful that I got to meet my not just cool grandson, you’re smart, hardworking, and you have a soft heart. If you had really drowned earlier, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want bad things to happen on this good day.”

“I might be your silly grandson sometimes, and I won’t be sorry for that.”

“If you feel lonely, missing your friends from the other timeline, just remember we’re here.” Fitz said, stroking his hair. “We’re family. Everybody in the team. You’re one of us.”


End file.
